Furnace for obtaining sulphur dioxide



July 7, 1970 BOGDANOV ETAL 3,519,397

FURNACE FOR OBTAINING SULPHUR DIOXIDE Filed Juno 27, 1967 United StatesPatent FURNACE FOR OBTAINING SULPHUR DIOXIDE Leonid AlexandrovichBogdanov, Ulitsa Nekrasova 58, kv. 69; Efim Isaakovich Dorrnan, Nevskyprospekt 96, kv. 18; Bentsion Davydovichv Katsneison, litsa Dostoevskogo4, kv. 30; Mikhail Porfirievich Kavokin, Ulitsa Podrezova 26b, kv. 19;Jury Vasilievich Lastochkin, Ulitsa Narodnaya 6, kv. 87; FedorKonstantinovich Mikhailov, Ulitsa Stakhanovtsev 10, korpus 3, kv. 11;Leonid Matveevich Person, Ulitsa Borovaya 18, kv. 18; Gennady MarkovichSaksonov, Pr. Metallistov 18, kv. 40; Viktor Arsenievich Slepuev, UlitsaRastannaya 16, kv. 6; Boris Romanovich Bogdanov, Troiskaya ulitsa 114,kv. 8; and Vladimir Nikolaevich Khvastunov, Ulitsa Skorokhodova 23, kv.28, all of Leningrad, U.S.S.R.

Filed June 27, 1967, Ser. No. 649,300 Int. Cl. B01j 7/00; F23c 7/00;F23] 9/04 US. Cl. 23278 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A cyclone-typesulphur furnace employed in the production of sulphuric acid comprises acylindrical combustion chamber with nozzles for feeding primary airinstalled tangentially to the combustion chamber, the nozzles beingpartitioned lengthwise, thus allowing partial regulation of air supplyto the chamber. The chamber also has tangential sprayers forsulfur-containing material and a diaphragm provided with radial channelsthrough which secondary air is fed.

The present invention relates to furnaces for obtaining sulfur dioxide,which are employed mainly in the chemical industry for obtaining sulfurdioxide used in the manufacture of sulfuric acid.

There are known furnaces for obtaining sulfur dioxide, wherein sulfur isburnt in an air flow.

Mastly used at present are sprayer furnaces fashioned as cylindricalchamber in which sulfur is burnt with the aid of registers burnerdevices.

The heat-release rate of such a furnace is from 50 to 100- l0 Kcal/cu.m. hr. (cf. Sulfuric Acid Specialists Manual, edited by Professor K. M.Malin, Moscow, 1952).

In more developed installations, such as those manufactured by theCelleco Co., air is introduced via nozzles, while at the furnace outletthere is placed an afterburning device with a catalyst. The heat-releaserate is increased to 1-10 KcaL/cu. m. hr.

A disadvantage of the above-described furnaces is that for completingthe process of combustion a large-size chamber is required, whileoperation at partial loads has an adverse effect upon the process ofmixing.

Since the technological conditions do not permit underburning in thewhole range of operating loads and the operation of the installations iseconomically feasible at the minimum aerodynamic resistance, thefurnaces are made of large dimensions and are usually used for operationwith an increased amount of excess air.

Among other disadvantages of the known furnaces are: a greataccumulating power, which increases the time required for starting thefurnace; high cost of repairs; automation difliculties due to thermalinertia; as well as ice an increased corrosion activity of combustionproducts due to the emergence of considerable amounts of S0 The presentinvention is aimed at developing a furnace for obtaining sulfur dioxide,said furnace featuring high heat-release rates and insuring completeburning of sulfur-containing materials within a wide range of opcratingloads at the minimum amount of excess air.

In the accomplishment of the above and other objects, the presentinvention consists in that tangential nozzles for the delivery of airused in the furnace for obtaining sulfur dioxide, according to thepresent invention, have at least one longitudinal partition and aregister closing one of the nozzle channels.

It is feasible that the register be made turnable and placed in theinlet part of the nozzle. It is also feasible that in the furnace forburning sulfur-containing materials there be installed a diaphragmhaving, in its plane, channels for the additional delivery of the flowof air.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will be madeapparent upon considering the following description thereof and theappended drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a side cross-sectional view of the furnace for obtainingsulfur dioxide, according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken on line I-I of FIG. 1; and

Fig. 3 shows a tangential nozzle with longitudinal partitions andchannels on enlarged scale and in cross-section.

When describing the exemplary embodiment of the present invention,concrete narrow terminology has been used for the sake of clarity.However, the invention is not limited by the terms adopted, and itshould be borne in mind that each of these terms embraces all theequivalent elements working analogously and used to solve similarproblems.

A furnace for obtaining sulfur dioxide, according to the presentinvention, consists of a cylindrical combustion chamber 1 (FIG. 1),tangential nozzles 2, sprayers 3 and a diaphragm 4.

The tangential nozzles 2 are arranged along the perimeter of thecylindrical combustion chamber 1, in its forepart.

Shown in the drawings are two tangential nozzles 2 designed fordelivering air to the cylindrical combustion chamber 1, however, theremay be additional said nozzles.

The tangential nozzles 2 are divided by longitudinal partitions 5 (FIGS.2 and 3) into a number of channels 6.

The channels 6, formed by the longitudinal partitions 5, can be closedwith turnable registers 7 and placed in the inlet part of the nozzle 2The registers 7 may cut off the channels 6 independently of each other.The number of the registers 7 and the re spective number of the channels6 in the nozzzles 2 may vary. A different design of the registers 7 islikewise possible.

The sprayers 3 (FIG. 2) may be arranged in the forepart of thecylindrical combustion chamber 1 along the perimeter thereof and in thesame plane as the nozzles 2 so that the sulfur-containing melt sprayedby said sprayers is fed into the flow of air delivered by the nozzles 2.

An axial arrangement of the sprayers 3 in the cylindrical combustionchamber is likewise possible.

The diaphragm 4 (FIG. 1) is installed in the rearpart of the cylindricalchamber 1 and has a central hole 8 for the removal of gases therefrom;the diaphragm also has in its plane channels 9 designed for theadditional delivery of air.

The additional fiow of air may be fed to the channels 9 of the diaphragm4 via tangential nozzles (not shown in the drawings) or by other knowntechniques.

The diaphragm 4 may be fashioned as two washers with a space betweenthem designed for cooling the walls of the diaphragm.

The furnace for obtaining sulfur dioxide, according to the presentinvention, operates in the following manner.

A flow of air is fed to the furnace via the tangential nozzles 2 whichcreate a vortex flow inside the cylindrical combustion chamber 1.

Simultaneously with the feeding of air, sulfur or sulfur-containingmaterial is sprayed in with the aid of sprayers 3. In the air flow themelted sulfur burns with the formation of sulfurous anhydride.

Resultant gases leave the cylindrical chamber 1 via hole 8, wherein theremaining part of the melted sulfur burns due to the delivery ofadditional air via the channels 9 of the diaphragm 4.

Sulfurous anhydride obtained in the furnace is used for manufacturing,e.g., sulfuric acid.

Following are the advantages of the furnace for obtaining sulfurdioxide, according to the present invention.

Thanks to the delivery of air via the tangential nozzles divided into anumber of channels at whose inlet there are installed cut-off registers,complete mixing is insured throughout the whole working load range ofthe furnace. At the same time, part of the channels is cut off when thefurnace operates at partial loads, with a view to securing a highvelocity of the delivery of air.

The provision of the diaphragm with air channels makes it possible toinsure the cooling of the diaphragm and after-burning of the remainingpart of sulfur.

The employment of the furnace according to the present invention makesit possible to increase the heat-release rate to approximately -10Kcal./cu. m. hr., thus reducing the installation volume by 30 times, andthe expenditures by approximately 20 times. The time requiredforstarting the furnace is reduced by not less than 5 times.

Besides, the reliability of the installation is increased, while thecost of repairs is cut approximately by 100 times.

Although the present invention has been described hereinabove inconnection with a preferred embodiment thereof, it is apparent thatvarious alterations and modifications may take place without departingfrom the spirit and scope of the invention, as those skilled in the artwill easily understand.

We claim:

1. A furnace for producing sulphurous gas comprising a cylindricallyshaped combustion chamber, nozzles to feed primary air to said chamber,said nozzles being installed tangentially with respect to thecircumference of the combustion chamber in a plane normal to thelongitudinal axis thereof; sprayer means installed along the perimeterof the combustion chamber in the same transverse plane with the nozzlesfor introduction of sulfurcontaining substances into said chamber; and adiaphragm in said chamber having an orifice for passage of thecombustion products of the sulfur-containing substances, said diaphragmhaving radial channels therein for the passage of secondary air to thecombustion products as they pass through said orifice.

2. A furnace for producing sulphurous gas as claimed in claim 1 whereinsaid nozzles include longitudinal partitions therein and dampers at theinlet of the nozzles; said dampers having open and closed positions topermit partial air supply to be effected under different operationconditions.

3. A furnace for producing sulphurous gas as claimed in claim 2 whereinsaid dampers are rotatable between said open and closed positions.

4. A furnace for producing sulphurous gas as claimed in claim 1 whereinsaid diaphragm is planar to produce overpressure in the chamber, saidchannels being in the plane of the diaphragm so that the secondary airserve as a coolant for the diaphragm.

5. A furnace for producing sulphurous gas as claimed in claim 4 whereinsaid diaphragm comprises a pair of axially spaced washers.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,720,742 7/ 1929 Mullen 23-278XR 2,368,827 2/1945 Hanson et al.

2,800,091 7/1957 Lotz et a1 -28 3,314,766 5/1967 Mukherji 23-2783,396,681 8/1968 Hubbard 110-28 XR MORRIS O. WOLK, Primary Examiner D.G. MILLMAN, Assistant Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 23-179; 110-28

